Broadband: the capacity to transmit large
quantities of electronic signals (including data, video, text and
voice) rapidly. This raises two important issues. The first
is that, in transmitting various types of signals, broadband is at
the heart of the convergence of telecommunication,
information technology and broadcasting. While convergence has been
discussed for several years, it remains unclear what it implies for
end users (the big box), the regulatory framework (the big brother),
and the business model (the big bid). In fact all that is clear
to-date is that one integrated network (the big pipe) will be able
to carry all kinds of communication.

The second is that several technologies and
media may be used to provide broadband services. There may be competition
between: networks (e.g. telephony and cable TV); media (copper,
fibre optic, satellite, terrestrial microwave, or a hybrid of
these).

Together these two issues imply a radical
change in competitive at all levels from the application service
provider to the network provider. There may be a need to review and
modify competition policy and regulation.

Broadband
access

Broadband access can be provided
by guided media (either copper or fibre-optic), or by
unguided media (air-interface) such as satellite or
terrestrial microwave. Many developed and middle
income countries have a policy of rolling out fibre-based
infrastructure across the country. If broadband
networks are to have a wide geographic coverage, the
expense of this investment may render public-private
cooperation essential in some countries. Even with
public-private cooperation, the cost of establishing
fibre infrastructure in rural or regional areas means
that universal service may never be achieved.

For developing countries the more
immediate goal may be to promote wider Internet
access, which may be possible, for example, through
broadband satellite or terrestrial microwave, or DSL
where there is an existing copper network.

Broadband
and the internet

The current interest in broadband
is largely due to the Internet, which permits familiar
services to be delivered in unfamiliar ways. This
includes the delivery of voice services that compete
with traditional telephony delivered over
circuit-switched networks. Similarly, broadband
infrastructure enables web casting of video or audio
signals that compete with broadcast networks. Until
now, the Internet has generally delivered these
services at a lower quality with less reliability than
conventional networks, but broadband access promises
to change all that.

The high costs of duplicating
broadband infrastructure suggests a monopoly advantage
to the first mover in both the backbone and the local
loop. This raises competition policy concerns.
Competition for a particular broadband operator can
come in the form of regulated sharing of
infrastructure, such as 3G licences tend to require,
or from other broadband media such as terrestrial
microwave or satellite. However, the first mover
advantage remains strong and can be reinforced
by 'lock-in' if, for example, cable TV decoders are
not standardised and subscribers are prepared to pay
for only one decoder.

Cross-media competition points to
issues of technologically neutral regulation.
Broadcast TV, telephony and cable TV, for example, are
typically subject to distinct policy philosophies and
regulation. Moreover, transmission media such as
terrestrial microwave and satellite services generally
carry quite specific regulations, taking account of
the limitations on the availability of spectrum and
geostationary orbital slots, as well as national
security concerns. The question arises: just how can
technologically-neutral regulation accommodate factors
that have traditionally been technologically-specific
and around which entire industries have grown up?